Do Senior Citizens have to Pay Capital Gains Tax in India?

1. Does it matter if the asset has been sold before two years or after two years?
2. How does one claim the exemption? Do we need to prepare any documents or get a certification from a CA?
3. Are there any other tax liabilities / regulatory payments that one should consider during the mutation and sale process of the inherited property?

Capital Gains tax is levied on the profit that an individual earns by selling capital assets like residential plots, vehicles, stocks, bonds, and more. Since my father recently sold a property, I wanted to know do senior citizens have to pay capital gains tax in India or not. I looked for its answer online, discussed it with several of my close friends, and learned about it. Let me share do seniors have to pay capital gains here.

Before answering do senior citizens pay capital gains, let me answer in which cases capital gains are exempt. Some incomes on which capital gains tax is not levied are-

• Agricultural land owned in the rural parts of India

• Furniture and clothes owned for personal use

• Consumable items or stocks held for professional or business-related use

• National defence bonds, 6.5% gold bonds, and 7% gold bonds, all of which must be issued by the government.

• NRIs having Rs 2.5 lakh as annual income

• Hindu-Undivided-Family having Rs 2.5 lakhs as annual income

• Resident Indians having Rs 5 lakh as annual income who are aged 80 years or more

• Resident Indians having Rs 3 lakh as annual income who are aged 60 years or more

• Resident Indians having Rs 2.5 lakh as annual income who are aged less than 60 years 

If you are looking for an answer to in which cases a senior citizen does not need to pay capital gains tax are-

• Persons aged 80 years or older with an annual income less than Rs 5 lakh do not have to pay any tax.

• Persons aged between 60 and 80 years with an annual income less than Rs 3 lakh do not need to pay any tax.

If you fall under these conditions, you need not pay any tax. If you do not fall under these conditions, you will have to pay the tax.

This is my answer to the query- do senior citizens have to pay capital gains tax in India or not.